


how long have you been smiling? it feels like it's been too long

by arfrid



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: But whatever, Dethroned Eret (Video Blogging RPF), ERET AND HIS KNIGHTS, Everyone Is Traumatized™, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/F, Gen, He/Him Pronouns for Eret (Video Blogging RPF), Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Niki | Nihachu Needs a Hug, Niki | Nihachu has PTSD, Traumatized Niki | Nihachu, Wilbur's Coat - Freeform, aaaaa, aaaaaa puffychu, dont mind me just sobbing over niki's villain arc, eret is poggers, he's so iconic, i guess?, i love HBomb94, its kind of implied, niki needs intense therapy, why isn't that a tag, wilbur's coat is a character of its own, yooooooo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 13:34:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29734656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arfrid/pseuds/arfrid
Summary: Puffy, HBomb and Eret, with nowhere to go, move into Niki's underground city.Hopefully, they'll be able to convince her that violence isn't the answer.
Relationships: Cara | CaptainPuffy & Liam | HBomb94, Cara | CaptainPuffy/Niki | Nihachu, Eret & Niki | Nihachu, Liam | HBomb94 & Niki | Nikachu
Comments: 20
Kudos: 52





	how long have you been smiling? it feels like it's been too long

**Author's Note:**

> idk whether i'll continue this
> 
> btw idk HBomb's boundaries with fanfic so if he is in any way uncomfortable with himself in this fic i will remove him from it
> 
> also this isnt their real selves - just their personas! the only ship here is Puffychu, which is canon AND only their personas, so please dont take it personally!
> 
> keep in mind i may or may not continue this - im not sure yet
> 
> (on a side note, we puffychu shippers and misferns stans and niki nihachu stans are slowly dying on the inside thank you very much)

"Really, I can't thank you enough, Niki." Puffy said, the netherite armour weighing her down.

Niki smiled at her, and Puffy's heart did a little relay race. Puffy was currently standing in front of Niki, and Niki's home.

Eret was standing right by her side, smiling down at Niki (why was this man so _tall, Jesus fucking Christ-),_ with Hbomb on her other side

"Welcome to my Underground City!" Niki announced, beaming at both of them. "It was originally supposed to be a place for refugees who just wanted a break from war, but, well.. No-one's talked to me in a while.."

Niki got a faraway look in her eyes, and something changed in her expression, but it reverted back to her cheerful self so quickly that Puffy thought she had imagined it.

"But it's going to be so much more lively with you three around here!" She told them happily, doing a little happy dance to celebrate. "Come on!"

Eret chuckled and followed after her. HBomb glanced over at her, with something she didn't understand in his eyes, but he too followed Eret and Niki.

Puffy stood there for a moment, contemplating what just happened, before Niki's "Puffy, come!" stirred her out of her thoughts.

As they walked down the stairs, Niki told them about her base. 

"It's still a Work In Progress, so, don't be scared if you hear me fixing it up a little." She told them  reassuringly. "It'll just be me trying to build stuff."

"Pretty cool-" HBomb started, but he froze when he reached the cross of the stairs. "Oh, what the everloving  _fuck_ -"

Puffy, worried by what HBomb may have seen, walked forwards, only for her breath to catch too.

Leaning into each side were different areas that just didn't match with the one next to it, like Niki had hired completely different builders for each part.

Seemingly oblivious to how messy it was, Niki just turned her head curiously.

Not wanting to offend her, Puffy said, "Wow, it looks really- unique!"

Eret, quickly gaining his composure, said, "Yeah, nothing I've ever seen before! It's really cool, Niki."

Puffy subtly elbowed HBomb in the gut, so he quickly announced, "Ooh! Yeah, really awesome!"  


Niki beamed again at them, her cheeks colouring a little.

_Gods_ , she was beautiful.

"Well, let's continue with the tour!" Niki told them cheerfully, leading them through, before pausing. "Goddamnit, I need to go replenish my hunger. I'll be right back, guys! Don't move!"

And with that, Niki scampered back the way they came. They watched her run off, their confusion only mounting.

"Okay, was it just me or did Niki seem, I don't know,  _off_ ?" Eret said, breaking the silence. Puffy shook her head, as did HBomb.

"No,  it wasn't just you." Puffy assured him. "I felt a weird energy coming off her. And clearly, her base isn't, um..."  


"It's a bit messy, to say the least." Eret agreed. 

HBomb winced, like their conversation physically hurt him. Eret and Puffy stared at him.

"If you've got something to say, just say it." Puffy told him harshly. HBomb opened his mouth, then closed it, seemingly lost on what to say.

Eventually, he seemed to decide on, "I talked to Niki. After Doomsday." He blurted out.

"What did she say to you?" Eret asked curiously.

HBomb opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, they all got a blip on their communicators.

Puffy got it out of her pocket and her breath hitched again.

** Nihachu fell from a high place. **

A few seconds after that message was displayed, Niki's voice rang out from below, "It's okay! I'm here, I'm here! I'll be right there!"

All of them sighing in relief that it hadn't been a canon death, waiting for Niki to come back up.

Niki came back up, but this time she had another clothing accesory.

A brown  trench coat.

Puffy and HBomb didn't recognize it, but Eret made a sound at the back of his throat and backed a step away.

Niki smiled at him, thought it seemed slightly cold... but maybe that was Puffy's imagination.

"Yeah, it used to be Wilbur's," She said reminiscently, grabbing at the slightly burnt edges of it. Puffy sucked in a breath. No wonder why Eret reacted that way. "I noticed it was just.. on the floor, by the L'Mantree, so I just.. took it."

Eret's voice was hoarse when he spoke again, "Why was it there?"

Niki shrugged, the fingerless gloves on her hands stuffed in the coat's pockets.

Then she smiled again, though unlike last time, it was not cold, but warm. Soft. Friendly. 

"On with the tour!" She announced, and gestured them to come forwards.

With slight reluctance, they walked forwards with her. She walked in the lead, Wilbur's trench coat waving tauntingly behind her as she walked.

"You won't be sleeping in my room – for obvious reasons – but I've mined out some rooms for you, and put some chests with decorative items for your style." She told them cheerfully. "But I'll show you mine anyway, if you need to come find me for any reason."  


She led them around the staircase, and Puffy's heart  _plummeted._

I t looked like a prison cell.  _Exactly_ , like a prison cell.  (and she would know, she had been to Eret's castle's cells).

On the outside, there was an iron door surrounded by iron bars.

Inside, the bed was smushed in the very corner of the room, the stone around it cracked for whatever reason. On the side there was an open book, which Niki immediately rushed forwards and snapped it shut, shoving it in one of the drawers.

"Niki," Eret started, his voice and body trembling. "What-  _what the fuck_ ?"

Niki's fake smile faded, and she replaced it with an expression Puffy just couldn't name.

"No offense, Niki, but  _what the actual hell_ ?" HBomb told her. Niki clenched her fist, but mumbled something and her shoulders relaxed, and she forced a laugh out of herself.

Niki gestured round at the cell.

"This is my room!" She told them, a fake cheerfulness just  _surrounding_ her. "Over here is my desk, that's my bed. Ooh, I'm also planning to make a library just over there." She pointed further out, beside their right staircase. "I've got a few books in there, but they're mainly just stuff about me. I doubt you'd find it interesting."  


"I'm-" Puffy started, though not sure where exactly to start. "What- What about the stone?"  


Niki glanced over at it, then sighed. "It's just a little- It's nothing,  really. Do you want to check out your rooms?"  


Puffy didn't want to, but she could see she wasn't going to get anything out of Niki, at least not today. Besides, Eret, HBomb and herself were trembling with just the sight... They would try figure everything out tomorrow.

Eret liked his room.

Well, that was understatement.

Niki, as ghastly as her place might have been (he got shivers even thinking about the cell that Niki called her room), she knew him pretty well.

It was exactly like a palace, with gold decorating the shelves and desks. There were books, storybooks about kings and queens, with a few of Sappho's poems here and there (Niki had just giggled where he asked where she had gotten them).

It was comfy, and it was home.

He couldn't see why Niki wouldn't have the  luxury of a room like this. Clearly, she could have it if she wanted it.

  
So why didn't she want it? Why did she opt to sleep in a cold, stuffy cell, with the only company being Shy the Enderman?

It just didn't make sense.

As much as he would have liked to, Eret didn't sleep that night. He was paranoid, alright? Every bloody place he had been in had been threatened  _at least_ once, and he be damned, he wouldn't let that happen here. Not to his knights. Not to Niki.

So, he waited 'til everyone was asleep. 

He heard the soft snored and breaths of his knights and got up, careful not to make any noise.

Warily, he walked a few rounds around the stairs, trying to get his to get used to the sight of two blocks that clashed together horribly, but he just couldn't. Each time, it surprised him.

He did it seven times, when he heard it.

The sound of a yell, a cry, before it was muffled, stifled.

And it came from Niki's  ~~ cell ~~ room.

As quickly as he could, Eret rushed to the iron door, and slammed it open, taking his sword from his sheath.

Instead of finding an enemy like he'd feared, he instead found the cracked walls around Niki's bed with blood on them.

He froze, fearing the worst, but sighed in relief when he heard faint sniffling coming from the wardrobe.

Sheathing his sword, he walked towards it and opened the door.

A trembling, shaking body flinched and tried to back further into the corner. The brown, horribly familiar coat was hung around her shoulders, and her fingerless gloves were blood-stained.

His heart dropped.

"Niki?" He asked softly. "What's wrong?"

Niki didn't even look up, she just shook her heard very quickly.

"Okay, okay," He said, making sure his voice was soft, soothing. "you're okay, okay? Can I touch you?"

Niki shook her head again, though this time not as fast. She hiccuped and sniffled, and each time it made Eret's heart ache for the poor girl.

" Okay. That's fine." Eret told her, his voice a determined calm. "You're in your room, a-" Eret cut himself short. How could he tell this terrified girl, who was literally having a breakdown, that she lived in a cell? "-a beautiful room, with gold and diamonds everywhere, and a luxury, king-sized, or I guess queen-sized bed."

Niki looked up slightly, and Eret noticed her eyes had taken on a dark shade of blue.  Something inside them was broken, shattered like a recently-broken window. Eret felt his own heart shatter as he came to that realization.

"Is it-" She hicced again, "Is it nice? My room?"

Eret didn't have the heard to tell her she slept in a cell, so he made it up. He told her there were pictures plastered on the wall of her friends, books of a thousand different stories, paintings and flowers in pots.

With each vivid description, Niki seemed to get more sleepy, yet she seemed to confide in him enough to lean into his touch.

By the time he finished describing in great detail her different books, she was sleep.

He didn't actually know until her head rolled onto his shoulders and her breaths were perfectly even.

He smiled down at her, brushing a stray lock out of her face.

She looked so young, so very young, while asleep. 

Young and vulnerable.

He knew she wasn't really a kid, but she was too young. How much destruction had she seen? How much death had she witnessed? How many minds had she seen break?

He remembered how tired she looked during Schlatt's reign, her hair unbrushed and her eyes exhausted.

God.. she had witnessed Tubbo die, then right after been threatened to be killed too.

He picked her up, and she slept like a rock, not even stirring.

He barely had to glance at her bed to decide that she was not sleeping here tonight. No, sir, she would not. He would rather lose a canon life then let her sleep back in that bed.

So, quietly as to not wake his knights that were having a well-deserved-and-needed sleep, he walked back into his luxurious room and placed her down onto his bed.

He pried Wilbur's coat off her, wincing when he placed it on the chair next to his own king's robe, and got into the bed, beside her.

He had barely gotten in when Niki murmured and shifted towards him, leaning on him.

He smiled down at her, then put an arm around her, shielding her from anything that may cause her harm ( _ **it's her own mind doing this,**_ _a nasty voice in his head muttered,_ _**how will you protect her from that?**_ )

He didn't give them the satisfaction of replying to them, instead opting to go to sleep.

And for once, his nightmares didn't plague him.


End file.
